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violet · cool

#d3bddf

a light, soft violet · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Meadow Amethyst

RGB
211, 189, 223
HSL
279°, 35%, 81%
CMYK
5, 15, 0, 13
Luminance
0.5557

#d3bddf is a light soft violet, 279° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.11:1). As text it scores 1.73:1 on white — use #9560B2 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is fuchsia.

hsl(279 35% 81%)rgb(211 189 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #d3bddf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#d3bddf
Hue
279°
violet
Saturation
35%
soft
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5557
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Violet
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.11:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 3.1
Chroma
19.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.828
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
fuchsia
500 · ΔE 27.4
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue279° of 360°
Saturation35%
Lightness81%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #d3bddf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red25%
Green65%
Blue10%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#d3bddf
HEX (8-digit)#d3bddfff
RGBrgb(211, 189, 223)
RGBArgba(211, 189, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(279, 35%, 81%)
HSV / HSBhsv(279, 15%, 87%)
HWBhwb(279 74% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 15%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(79.4 13.9 -14.1)
LCHlch(79.4 19.8 314.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.828 0.052 313.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.38, 55.57, 77.45)
Decimal13876703
Display P3color(display-p3 0.827 0.741 0.875)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #d3bddf;
background-color: #d3bddf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #d3bddf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#d3bddf] bg-[#d3bddf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #d3bddf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.827, green: 0.741, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.827, green: 0.741, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#D3BDDF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFD3BDDF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFD3BDDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 189, 211)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(211, 189, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(211, 189, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 211, 189, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8275f, 0.7412f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{211,189,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #d3bddf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #d3bddf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#462A56, #E4D6EB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #d3bddf h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F8F5F9;
  --brand-100: #F1ECF4;
  --brand-200: #E1D4E8;
  --brand-300: #d3bddf;
  --brand-400: #B38EC8;
  --brand-500: #9A68B6;
  --brand-600: #8750A5;
  --brand-700: #704389;
  --brand-800: #5A356E;
  --brand-900: #432A51;
  --brand-950: #2A1A32;
  --brand: #d3bddf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F5FA;
  --brand-border: #DAC8E4;
  --brand-hover: #C3A5D3;
  --brand-pressed: #B38DC8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1424;
    --brand-ink: #E4D6EB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F5F9',
        100: '#F1ECF4',
        200: '#E1D4E8',
        300: '#d3bddf',
        400: '#B38EC8',
        500: '#9A68B6',
        600: '#8750A5',
        700: '#704389',
        800: '#5A356E',
        900: '#432A51',
        950: '#2A1A32',
        DEFAULT: '#d3bddf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F5F9,
  '100': #F1ECF4,
  '200': #E1D4E8,
  '300': #d3bddf,
  '400': #B38EC8,
  '500': #9A68B6,
  '600': #8750A5,
  '700': #704389,
  '800': #5A356E,
  '900': #432A51,
  '950': #2A1A32,
);
$brand-base: #d3bddf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1ECF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1D4E8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#d3bddf", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B38EC8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9A68B6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#8750A5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#704389", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5A356E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#432A51", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A1A32", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #d3bddf · 12.11:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.73:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.11:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #d3bddf as text scores 1.73:1 on white and 12.11:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #462A56 at 7.02:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#9560B2 · 4.57:1
AA on white−27% L
#9560B2
The quick fox
#73448C · 7.16:1
AAA on white−40% L
#73448C
The quick fox
#d3bddf · 12.11:1
AA on blackalready passes
#d3bddf
The quick fox
#d3bddf · 12.11:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#d3bddf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE86C4 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#d3bddf on white: 1.73:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#d3bddf on black: 12.11:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #d3bddf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #d3bddf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.73:1AaAa
Slate 501.66:1AaAa
Slate 1001.58:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.48:1AaAa
Slate 5002.75:1AaAa
Slate 6004.37:1AaAa
Slate 7005.97:1AaAa
Slate 8008.44:1AaAa
Slate 90010.30:1AaAa
Black12.11:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9C3E1
deuteranopia · #BDC5DE
tritanopia · #D2C1C8

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #d3bddf is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F5F9
#F1ECF4
#E1D4E8
#d3bddf
#B38EC8
#9A68B6
#8750A5
#704389
#5A356E
#432A51
#2A1A32
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F5F9Darkest = 950 · #2A1A32Text step on white = 600
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.013 313.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.021 313.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.032 313.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.041 313.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.048 313.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.052 313.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.052 313.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.049 313.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.044 313.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.037 313.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.029 313.8);
}

Colors that work with #d3bddf

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F8F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#DAC8E4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7E4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6E8E3E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#462A56
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4EEF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1424
Dark-mode background
Hover#C3A5D3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B38DC8
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DDC7EA
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #d3bddf

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #462A56
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AE86C4

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

creativepremiummodernimaginative

Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Deep violets swallow detail on screens with poor gamma; check it on a cheap laptop panel.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight19/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#C9DFBD
Analogous left#C2BDDF
Analogous right#DFBDDA
Split-complement 1#DADFBD
Split-complement 2#BDDFC2
Triadic 1#DFD3BD
Triadic 2#BDDFD3
Tetradic#DFC2BD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°279°

#d3bddf sits at 279°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red82.7%
Green74.1%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
211
0xd3
G · 0–255
189
0xbd
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.4%
Magenta15.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 33%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#d3bddf text on a black background

contrast 12.11:1

Card sample

#d3bddf text on a white background

contrast 1.73:1

Card sample

#d3bddf on grey

1.58:1

#d3bddf on its own surface

1.60:1

#d3bddf on its dark surface

10.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #d3bddf;
Background color
Panel with #d3bddf background
background-color: #d3bddf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #d3bddf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(211, 189, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(211, 189, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #d3bddf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #d3bddf, #DFBDD4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d3bddf, #DFBDCC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #d3bddf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #d3bddf;
caret-color: #d3bddf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #d3bddf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4EEF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #d3bddf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#d3bddf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #d3bddf over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(211, 189, 223, 0.5)
rgb(211 189 223 / 50%)
#d3bddf80
hsl(279 35% 81% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #d3bddf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#d3bddf1a#FBF8FC
20%#d3bddf33#F6F2F9
40%#d3bddf66#EDE5F2
60%#d3bddf99#E5D7EC
80%#d3bddfcc#DCCAE5

Gradients from #d3bddf

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFE6F3, #d3bddf 45%, #462A56);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #d3bddf, #D5A8C3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d3bddf, #C9DFBD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F5FA 0%, #d3bddf 45%, #462A56 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E0DFF0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E9D2E4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #462A56 0%, transparent 65%), #d3bddf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #d3bddf

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#d3bddf in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
Creative toolsFintechBeautyLuxury
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 12.11:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#d3bddf, answered

What color is #d3bddf?

#d3bddf is a light soft violet, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 279° on the hue wheel with 35% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #d3bddf?

rgb(211, 189, 223) — 211 red, 189 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 82.7% / 74.1% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #d3bddf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(279, 35%, 81%) and hsv(279, 15%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #d3bddf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5557 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.11:1.

Should I use black or white text on #d3bddf?

Black. It scores 12.11:1 against #d3bddf, versus 1.73:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #d3bddf accessible on a white background?

#d3bddf on white scores 1.73:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9560B2 to reach 4.5:1, or #73448C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #d3bddf?

#C9DFBD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DADFBD and #BDDFC2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #d3bddf?

For interface work: #F8F5FA as the surface, #DAC8E4 for borders, #7E4B9B for secondary text, #6E8E3E as an accent and #462A56 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C2BDDF and #DFBDDA stays calm, while #C9DFBD is the loudest partner.

What is #d3bddf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 15%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #d3bddf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DFBDDF; nudged cooler, #C6BCE0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #d3bddf?

The fuchsia family — its 500 step is #d946ef, ΔE2000 27.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #d3bddf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #d3bddf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#d3bddf] or text-[#d3bddf], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #d3bddf with 50% opacity?

rgba(211, 189, 223, 0.5), or #d3bddf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E9DEEF; over black, #6A5F70.

Is #d3bddf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 16.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #d3bddf mean?

As a violet, it reads creative, premium, modern. Violet sits between the warmth of red and the calm of blue, so it reads as inventive without reading as risky. Current shorthand for software craft. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #d3bddf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFE6F3, #d3bddf 45%, #462A56). For more colour, a short hue run to #D5A8C3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #d3bddf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #d3bddf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.